In the transportation systems engineering field, there is a fast growing interest to use small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for structural inspections. An application of particular importance is the inspection of bridges and high mast luminaires (HML). This paper describes an ongoing research effort -and results obtained-to evaluate small unmanned aerial vehicles (sUAV) for various environmental conditions and mission objectives. Various propeller types, battery types, and configurations were used in the evaluation of sUAVs to estimate maximum working altitude, motor power capabilities, battery life expectancy under different loads, and maneuverability constraints. The preliminary research results presented in this paper support the use of sUAS to assist in bridge and HML inspections. Altitude, payload, and maneuverability tests were conducted using quad and hexacopters to understand performance and limitation parameters that would directly relate to the use of UAVs for transportation infrastructure inspections. Future research areas are identified to extend the work presented in this paper.
